Nurseries gearing up for pot protests, lobbyist says

A medical marijuana lobbyist said a half-dozen Florida nurseries that had applied but failed to become growers “are thinking seriously about protesting” the state’s license-award process.

Taylor Patrick Biehl told FloridaPolitics.com on Thursday that he and fellow lobbyist Jeff Sharkey had “spoken with seven or eight nurseries and a variety of administrative lawyers about the protest possibilities, options and likely way that the Department of Health would handle” such protests.

Biehl and Sharkey run the Tallahassee-based Medical Marijuana Business Association of Florida.

A three-member panel of state officials in the Health Department was tasked with selecting five approved pot providers out of 28 nurseries that turned in applications by July 8.

Late last month, the licenses went, by region, to Hackney Nursery Co. (northwest), Chestnut Hill Tree Farm (northeast), Knox Nursery (central), Alpha Foliage (southwest), and Costa Nursery Farms (southeast).

Owners of some of the nurseries that were unsuccessful felt they were evaluated incorrectly, Biehl said. He declined to disclose their names.

“I think there probably will be six or seven protests, conservatively, and they would be due by Dec. 13 so it’s a quick turnaround,” he said.

Health Department spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said no formal protests have been filed so far.

Last month, however, 3 Boys Farm in Ruskin notified the department of its “intent to challenge the selection of Alpha Foliage as the approved (grower) for the southwest region,” she said.

Biehl added that he and Sharkey also met with other lobbyists last week about efforts to increase the number of licenses and THC levels and add to the number of applicable medical conditions.

In 2014, lawmakers passed and Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure legalizing low-THC, or “non-euphoric,” marijuana to help children with severe seizures and muscle spasms. THC is the chemical that causes the high from pot.

But a bill (SB 460) filed for the 2016 Legislative Session would allow for stronger but still non-smokable varieties of medical marijuana. Higher-THC cannabis often provides pain relief unavailable from milder strains to terminally ill patients. The leaves are infused into oil that patients ingest.

State Sen. Darren Soto, an Orlando Democrat, tried but failed to amend the bill by authorizing up to 20 nurseries in the state to grow marijuana to meet added demand.

Also looming is a proposed constitutional amendment for 2016, backed by Orlando trial attorney John Morgan, that would create a right to medical marijuana. An attempt last year failed at the ballot boxes.